Browsing by Author "Temesi, John"

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    An Innovative Ergometer For Measuring Neuromuscular Fatigue During And Immediately After Cycling Exercise
    (2017) Doyle-Baker, Douglas; Millet, Guillaume; MacIntosh, Brian; Murias, Juan; Temesi, John; Kirton, Adam
    During exercise, progressive changes in the central nervous system and muscles result in a contractile output that is less than anticipated, which is called neuromuscular fatigue. Many studies assessing fatigue from dynamic exercise in large muscle mass (e.g. cycling), have tended to delay measurements for 1-4 min after exercise cessation. This is problematic because recovery from exercise begins immediately after the activity has finished. This study aimed to determine the reliability of an innovative cycling ergometer that permits the start of measurement of fatigue within 1 s after exercise cessation, and compare these results to a traditional isometric chair ergometer. Twelve subjects participated in two data collection sessions, performing an incremental cycling test with intermittent isometric assessment of fatigue in the knee extensors with electrical nerve and transcranial magnetic stimulation. The innovative ergometer was found to be a reliable tool to assess neuromuscular fatigue during and immediately after cycling exercise.
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    Tailored exercise interventions to reduce fatigue in cancer survivors: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial
    (2018-07-24) Twomey, Rosie; Martin, Tristan; Temesi, John; Culos-Reed, S. N; Millet, Guillaume Y
    Abstract Background Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is a common and distressing symptom of cancer and/or cancer treatment that persists for years after treatment completion in approximately one third of cancer survivors. Exercise is beneficial for the management of CRF, and general exercise guidelines for cancer survivors are available. There are multiple potential pathways by which exercise improves CRF, and cancer survivors with CRF are diverse with respect to cancer type, treatments and experienced side effects. While the general exercise guidelines are likely sufficient for most cancer survivors, tailoring of exercise interventions may be more effective in those with persistent fatigue. The primary aim of this research is to investigate the effect of a traditional vs. tailored exercise intervention on CRF severity in cancer survivors with persistent CRF. Methods/design Cancer survivors (≥ 3 months and ≤ 5 years since primary treatment) who score ≤ 34 on the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy Fatigue Scale (FACIT-F) will be randomly allocated to one of two parallel treatment arms: traditional (active control) and tailored exercise. Participants in the traditional exercise group will engage in aerobic and resistance exercise that is consistent with exercise guidelines for cancer survivors. The tailored exercise group will be prescribed an intervention designed to address individual deficits identified at baseline, such as loss of muscular strength, cardiorespiratory deconditioning or sleep disturbance. Participants will be assessed before and after the intervention for CRF severity and other patient-reported outcomes, neuromuscular function and fatigue in response to whole-body exercise, sleep quantity and quality, physical activity levels, cardiorespiratory fitness and blood biomarkers. Discussion To our knowledge, this will be the first study to compare the effects of a traditional vs. tailored exercise intervention on CRF severity in cancer survivors with persistent CRF. Using physiological, behavioural and patient-reported outcomes, this study will add to the current knowledge about both the factors contributing to CRF, and the potential reduction in CRF severity with an exercise intervention. Trial registration The study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov ( NCT03049384 ), February, 2017.